November 29, 2009 Thirty-nine Years and Counting

Today my husband and I have been married 39 years! So many years ago as a young girl I prayed and asked the Lord to send me someone to love me. My Father did just that! We started dating in tenth grade and have never separated. We married very young, right out of high school. I can honestly say we are more in love now than the day we married. My husband is my very best friend. He is also the most unselfish person I have every known. He does so much for me, for his children, and for anyone in need. He blesses me in so many ways, but most of all, he loves me. He loves me unconditionally. He's so much like our heavenly Father. I see the love of Jesus in my husband every day. And there's not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with my wonderful husband.

Reflections of the Past

October 31st is a very controversial day. For me, it’s a day of reflection.
My daddy died on October 31st many years ago after an agonizing battle with cancer.
My daddy was a farmer. One thing I remember about him is that he always wore bib overalls working around the farm. The pants leg of these overalls had a loop on it to hold a hammer. I didn’t know it was for a hammer until I was grown. I always thought it was my special little handle just for me. You see, Daddy had long legs, and it was hard for a little girl that followed him everywhere he went to keep up with him. So, I’d hook my little fingers inside that loop and hold on tight! We walked over that farm many times like that!
Another time I remember is one Sunday morning. It had snowed during the night. A big snow! Very unusual for North Carolina! I liked the snow, but I was very upset because we weren’t going to be able to go to Sunday school that morning. I was upset because my church gave out Sunday school pins for everyone with perfect attendance. The first pin was round and every year after that there was a rectangular pin that attached to it. I had several hanging underneath that little round pin, and I didn’t want to miss getting one that year! I was crying so hard, as little girls do, that Daddy finally said, “I’ll get you there if I have to take you on the tractor!” I don’t know which I was more excited about, getting to Sunday school or riding the tractor there! Well, we got to church, but not on the tractor. When we got to church there were only a handful of people huddle around the old heater. (It wasn’t a wood heater. I don’t know what kind it was, just big and tall.) I remember thinking, “Where is everybody?” Even as young as I was (5 or 6) I couldn’t help believe people would miss church!
When you live on a farm everyone works, little to big. And I was LITTLE when I had to start helping put in tobacco. I hated it! But one special thing I remember is that when Daddy would go to the store to get snacks for the farm hands, he’d always bring me back a little round carton of vanilla ice cream. Momma would share her “nabs” with me. (For those who don’t know, a nab is what country folk call the orange crackers with peanut butter inside them.) I’d put two nabs in my little carton and chop them up and eat my ice cream. I knew I was special to my daddy because he only brought me ice cream! I still like peanut butter crackers in my ice cream to this day!
Another thing I remember isn’t as pleasant. I hate working in tobacco because it has worms on it! Horrible, green, monster-looking worms! One day, Daddy told my sister and me to go into the tobacco patch and pick off the worms and smush them! Uggh! If there’s anything I hate worse than a worm, it’s smushing one! I “pitched a fit” as we country folks say! Well, Daddy would have none of that! But I’m a determined girl, so the battle was on! Daddy, ingenious farmer that he was, came up with a plan. He put kerosene in a coffee can and gave me a clothes pin and told me to pick the worms off with the clothes pin and put them in the can! I didn’t like that much either, but at least I didn’t have to touch them, and I didn’t have to smush them! Well, I can’t really figure out who won that battle, but I think Daddy did! (lol)
Every year around the middle of October when the leaves start falling and the air turns crisp, I start feeling sad. I think, “What is wrong with me?” and then I remember. Oh, October 31st is coming up. I remember now. So, today I will be outside with my husband and son raking leaves, and I will remember.

Birthday Blessings

I've often told my children that it's the mother that should get the presents on the child's birthday because she is the one that worked so hard to bring them into this world. Of course, they didn't see it quite that way. (grin) So today, I've thought of my own mother a lot. If she were living I'd have called her and told her how much I appreciate her and thank her for giving me life. Yes, today is my birthday, and I would have given her a gift of thankfulness.

Well, today, my children all gave me wonderful gifts. Did they spend a lot of money on me? No, thankfully. But each one called me today. It means so much when your grown children take the time out of their day to call their mother. They knew I was working and that I was busy. But that didn't matter. They loved me enough to call and say "happy birthday" and "I love you". Those words are the most precious words. It's always so good to hear them even in the midst of busy days, especially in the midst of busy days.

But wait, it gets even better. On the first day of school my policeman son called me just to ask how my first day back at school was going. My oldest son calls quite frequently from Arizona to say "hi" and ask how his dad and I are doing. He puts the babies on the phone too to tell their Grandma they love her. How precious is that?

Then, my oldest daughter calls almost every day to talk about her day and how her kids are doing at school. But she always asks about my day as well. My daughter that works at my school always gives me at least one hug every morning and again when she meets me in the hall. My other two sons call, not quite as often, but they call. They always tell me they love me when we hang up. Six children, all birthday blessings to their mother. Not just on my birthday, but every day! I remember well the moment each one made his or her entrance into this world. Their daddy was there with me to welcome them into this world. They were birthday blessings then, and they're birthday blessings now. I thank my heavenly Father for each one of them and my wonderful husband. I thank Him for the family that he has given me. I thank Him for the life He has given me. I thank Him that I am in His family and that He loves me so much. I am so thankful for all my blessings, especially birthday blessings.

Lees' Summer Reunion--2009

On August 27, 1911, our mother, Lillie Mae Briley Lee
was born. She died December 3o, 1987. Since that time her children have tried to get together every year on or around her birthday to honor her, remember her, and to fellowship with one another. Today, August 22, 2009, was the date to do just that. We met at Deadwood in Bear Grass for a meal together and to catch up on what has been going on in our lives. Seven out of eight siblings and members of their families gathered to celebrate the lives mama and daddy shared with us. Our eighth sibling was not well enough to attend. We were all sad to not have her there. We missed her greatly and prayed for her health and healing. The oldest member of the clan had the honor of saying the blessing over our food and each other. We had a wonderful time hugging each other and getting reacquainted with younger members of the family that have grown, married, and have little ones of their own.

Our next gathering will be December 13, 2009 for the Lees' Christmas Reunion at my house. We pray our missing member will be well enough to come and then our circle will be complete. What a wonderful legacy our mama and daddy left us! The love we share as a family continues and will endure throughout eternity.

This is our other sister who could not make it to the family reunion.

We love you and pray for you continually.

Final Day

A bittersweet day! Paul and I have had such a good time together visiting family and seeing so much of the United States that we’ve not seen before. We’ve had lots of adventures and good times together! We’ve laughed a lot, especially doing the “feet” shots! (I’ll explain those in a minute.) We’ve traveled through 17 states, some more than once. I had to get key chains from every state to add to my collection of places we’ve been. We traveled all four directions in Arizona, north, south, east, and west. What a beautiful state, and it is so diverse in its characteristics! We visited the Sonora desert, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona, all very different but beautiful in their own ways! Every where we went people were as diverse as the land. One thing so many of them had in common, however, was their friendliness. We spent more time in Arizona than in any other state, so Arizona was, by far, the friendliest state. So many of the other states we just rode through. Albuquerque and Branson were also beautiful and friendly. People all over our land are so much like one another but can be so different at the same time. I am so thankful that Paul and I had this opportunity, not only to spend some time with our children and grandchildren, but to be together to explore our country.

As you can see from the picture of the odometer, we put about 7, 250 miles on the van. Not once did it let us down! It was very comfortable, and it was our own little place day after day. It needs a good washing, though! A lot of different states’ dirt and bugs are on it! Maybe tomorrow we’ll reward it by taking it through the car wash!

We didn’t see much of the North Carolina Mountains today because of the route we took home. I was a little disappointed about that, but I’d seen the Virginia Mountains and they look a lot alike. By this time, I was ready to be home, so I didn’t complain about it. We soon were very familiar with our surroundings. I wondered, though, what first timers in our state thought about it. I hope they thought it was as beautiful as I did. Each landmark brought us closer and closer to home. We traveled past the exit for Chapel Hill Hospital, the exit we had taken so many times during Timmy’s ordeal. We traveled past the exits that we took when Timmy lived in Morrisville and Cary. Another bittersweet emotion, since Timmy and his family are there no longer. We stopped at our usual pit stop in Zebulon for a bathroom break. We even remembered the rough dip in the road we had to take just right or we’d bump the bottom of the van. On and on toward home.

We called Brandon when we got closer to Rocky Mount to arrange to meet him if we could when we came through. He wasn’t able to meet for lunch, but we did stop and visit with him for awhile. It was so good to see him, especially in his uniform, looking so handsome! It was coincidental, I guess, that we met him right beside the Veteran’s Memorial with all the flags from the different branches of service waving in the breeze on the Fourth of July. How fitting is that?! I’m so proud of him and all my boys!

We pulled off in Tarboro, another usual exit, for a quick sandwich from Wendy’s. We didn’t want to take too much time to eat. We were ready to see home! Finally, the Martin County line, then the Williamston exit! We were in the short rows! We came to the end of Roberson Chapel Road where we could see the house across the field. Lastly, we turned into our driveway! Our house and yard looked so good to me!

Autumn, Kirsten, and Grace were at the house to meet us! We were so glad to see them! Then Charity, Craig, and Carter came in a little while to welcome us home as well. We all visited and we shared some funny stories and exciting stories about our trip with them. (After unloading the van, that it!) Seal did her usually meowing to let us know she was glad we were home, too. We all had a good time just being together at home! I’m so appreciative of our family!

Okay, about the “feet”! It started off with Paul aggravating me by taking pictures of my feet. So, the next time I had the camera, I took pictures of his feet to get back at him. We were just messing around, having a good time. Then he started concocting different poses for our feet, like the cooler and the elevator. It became a game to see what he would come up with next. It was just a lot of fun! Then, when we saw Brandon, we had to include him in the “circle of feet”. When we got home and Autumn and the girls were here, it was a little bit bigger circle. Then later, with Charity, another circle was formed. (We had to get a little more of Carter than just his feet.) Our final “feet” shot was of Paul and me at home relaxing with our feet propped up. Appropriate after all the miles we put on them, huh? So, now you know the meaning of the feet!

Home! Family! The Lord has been so good to allow us to do all the things we’ve done sine we left more than three weeks ago. Every day we prayed for safety for us and the rest of our family, wherever they were. The ones we left in Arizona and the ones back in North Carolina. The Lord was so gracious to answer our prayers. He has been and continues to be so good to us. This family may not be close together in a physical sense, some living so far away, but this family is very close in love and concern for each other. The Lord has truly blessed us with children and grandchildren that we love with all our hearts. We are so thankful that they love us in return and want us to be part of their lives as much as possible.

Father, thank You for blessing Paul and me with the trip we have desired to take for so long. Thank you for our loving children that You gave us to enrich our lives. Help us to be the parents and grandparents You would have us be to them. You have blessed us beyond measure. We love You, Lord. Thank You for allowing us to travel to see Your beautiful creations and to return home safely. We love You.

Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Mt. Airy, NC

We left Louisville, KY, early this morning since we woke up right on cue. I don’t think we’ve set the alarm clock the entire trip. We just seem to know when to wake up. Kentucky and West Virginia were what I’d pictured them to be. Rolling hills, fenced in pastures with lots of horses, old barns and new barns. We finally got to larger mountains in West Virginia and Virginia. They were so beautiful to me! If I had to live somewhere else besides Bear Grass, the mountains of North Carolina or Virginia is where I’d like to live. Of course, I also like the Outer Banks. So, maybe I’ll have additional houses someday, one in the mountains and one on the Outer Banks! Yippee! (As long as I don’t have to clean them all.) (lol) We finally arrived in Mt. Airy around 4:00. We decided to eat supper early since we hadn’t had much lunch and to get ahead of the crowd. Mt. Airy was swarming with people! I guess the holiday was bringing them in. We did have a quieter supper than last night. We came back and I immediately fell asleep at 6:00.
I woke up later and thought it was about 3:00 a.m., but it was only 9:00 p.m. It took a long time to go back to sleep. I guess I was excited about heading for home and the last day on the road! Bear Grass is getting closer and closer!

Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana all in one day!

Well, we left Branson early, about 7:00 a.m. and drove and drove and drove! We didn’t even stop for lunch. We ate peanut butter and vanilla wafers and a bowl of fruit (while we drove) Paul had bought the night before! It was such a delicious lunch! (and I’m not being sarcastic!) We crossed the Mississippi River and saw the Gateway Arch (known as the “Gateway to the West” in St. Louis. We were well into Illinois before we even realized we were in another state, Missouri and Illinois look so much alike—long stretches of farmland once you get out of the city a ways. We drove and drove some more through Indiana. Still the same scenery! We crossed the Ohio River from Indiana into Kentucky and back into our own time zone. Our bodies will take awhile to adjust when we get home. After all, we’ve been through 6 time zones in 3 ½ weeks. I’ll let you know when we get home how many miles we actually put on the van since we’ve been gone.

Most of today has been overcast and cloudy. For the longest time we kept thinking we were going to get into a storm, but we never did. The sky was beautiful, all stormy looking. It hasn’t been so hot today, and I’m glad of that. We didn’t even have to use the air conditioning much.

I am so thankful to be still for a little while. Our room in Kentucky isn’t quite as nice as the one in Branson, but it is pretty good just the same. We went out and grabbed a bite of supper, and I came back and got in the whirlpool tub. Yea! I finally got a room with one in it! My body was screaming for it, too. Our supper was anything but relaxing! I won’t give details, but I’ll just say there was at least one squealing kid (with a very high pitch) in the restaurant right close to us. Mom and Dad seemed to be totally oblivious to his screams, but everyone else in the restaurant wasn’t.

Tomorrow night will be our last night on the road. Two more days of driving. I am excited about driving through Kentucky and West Virginia, though. These are two states I’ve always wanted to visit. Tomorrow’s my chance. By this time tomorrow night we will be in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Home! At least our home state! We have had a great time, but we are both ready to see Bear Grass and our home. We’ve missed everyone. (yes, Seal too) We are ready for some relaxing time at home now. But, of course, Paul has to go back to work on Monday. You probably know Embarq has been bought out by CenturyTel and will now become CenturyLink. There will be a lot of changes coming, as he found out some of them just today. Hopefully, it won’t affect his job too much. We’ll see.

ORU and Branson

Oral Roberts University was as beautiful as I expected. Of course, it is summertime, so there was a lot of construction and landscaping going on because most of the students were not there. Paul and I went to the prayer tower, but we couldn’t go up into it because it hadn’t opened yet. It was wonderful to be there anyway. The landscaping was pretty, but the buildings themselves were also beautiful.

We did go to Wal Mart after that for some needed replenishing of our food box and bottled water. Then we went to the main Goodwill store. It was huge! I did find a few things, not many, though. (We didn’t have anyplace to put too many things!)

Right outside of Tulsa in Claremore is the Will Rogers museum. That was on our agenda of things to do. I knew Paul wanted to stop here, but I couldn’t even remember who Will Rogers was. When we got there, I was duly impressed! The museum was huge and so beautiful. It almost looked like a castle! When I saw a picture of Will Rogers I remembered who he was. I didn’t know he did so many things besides star is cowboy movies. We spent quite a while here, but it was well worth the time. Then we headed out for Branson.

We took a little detour through Kansas (on purpose) just so we could add another state to my collection of key chains from states I have been in. It only added about another half hour to our drive, and Branson wasn’t that far of a drive for the day.

Ahh, Branson! Busy, busy, busy! Our hotel is at Branson Landing on the promenade. It is a beautiful little place where people can just stroll and watch the water show and the fountains. Every hour they have a water show similar to the Bellagio, just on a little bit smaller scale. We watched the water show from our window as it overlooks the whole area. It’s a beautiful spot. Our hotel room is gorgeous, too. I told Paul after he told me what the room rate was that I was very thankful we had saved up enough points on our credit card to get the room free! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.

We went to the show “The Acrobats of China” last night. It was very good! The Cirque du Solei at Las Vegas was a much bigger performance on a much grander scale. (more expensive, too) These acrobats here were remarkable too, however. They were very graceful and could do things you wouldn’t think a human body could possibly do.
We enjoyed it very much. When we got back to the hotel we went down on the promenade and watched the water show from down there. There’s a big fountain there also that is very relaxing to just sit by. The water show played one of the songs from “August Rush”, a very good movie and a favorite of mine.

Today, we slept in until 9:30! I couldn’t believe it when Paul told me how late it was! We ate breakfast in our room before we headed out. We went to a HUGE quilt store and a thrift store. I found a cute pattern for a purse at the quilt store. I was going to buy some fabric, but there were so many things to choose from, I couldn’t decide on anything!
Then we came back to the hotel and ate some lunch in one of the cafes right on the water front in the promenade. Of course, we watched the water show from there also. We had just a little while to rest before our dinner cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle.

The showboat was the highlight of our Branson stay! It was remarkable! I think why we liked the show here so much was because the performers openly acknowledged God and gave Him the honor and credit for what they were doing. They were all very good performers! (Paul even enjoyed all the singing.) I think our favorite was Tod Oliver. He is a famous ventriloquist who has appeared on TV on many shows. He used live dogs in his performance and made them look like they were talking. He was so funny! We enjoyed the whole thing: the boat, the dinner, the performances, everything! We said we would have to come to Branson again just to go to the Branson Belle again. Yea, it was that good.

On the drive back to Branson, we found Faith Life Church, which is Billie Brim’s church and where Keith Moore and his wife are the pastors. I had wanted to go to the Wednesday night service, but we got there too late. It had already started, and we didn’t want to interrupt.

The weather today has been so beautiful, not too hot or muggy. When we got back to the hotel we went down to the promenade. I have wanted a funnel cake since I got here, and I knew it was my last chance. So, I got my cake (with lots of powdered sugar) and sat down by the fountain to watch a family that was performing on the promenade. They were so delightful! They were playing instruments and singing “ole time music” they called it. There was one girl playing an accordion, another girl playing the violin, a boy playing a mandolin, another boy playing wooden spoons, and their father playing a guitar. They had a bucket there which said “ Lender music lessons fund”. We sat and listened to them for awhile. I then asked them if they knew, “You Are My Sunshine”, which was one of Pa’s songs he used to play on the harmonica, and sometimes he would sing it. They did play it for us, and Paul recorded it so we could bring it back and show it to his mama. I still miss Pa sometimes, so I’m sure she does.

It’s been a very good day in Branson. Paul and I have enjoyed being here, but we are also ready to hit the road tomorrow morning early because we are ready to see home. We have had such a good trip! It’s been so good to do all these things together, but we also enjoy our home together. Two more nights after tonight. Tomorrow night will be in Louisville, Kentucky and the next night in Mt. Airy, NC. Saturday—Bear Grass here we come!

Day Two of "The Long Drive"!

Twelve hours of riding today and 653 miles!--on through Texas to Tulsa, OK! It was a much more relaxing day, though. We had a good night’s rest and got up ready to go again! I had decided this morning not to think about how many miles we had to drive or how many hours it would take. I decided to think about it one “stop” at a time. With all the water (and some Diet Dr. Pepper, too) I drink, I have to “go” quite often. We usually stop about every hour and a half just to get out of the van and walk around a bit. Well, Paul walks around a bit. I walk to and from the bathroom. (lol) The drive was beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous. We did have about 10 traffic construction sights, however. We moved through them rather quickly considering the reduction in the speed limit. One highlight of the day came when we hit Amarillo just about 1:00. In case you don’t know, Amarillo is home of the famous restaurant “The Big Texan” and the “72 oz. steak. You may have seen it on the Travel Channel. If you can eat their 72 oz. steak, they’ll give it to you free. We didn’t even think about it! We just ordered our usual. The restaurant was a pleasure to look at. I told Paul it looked like something out of an old western. As we were leaving, someone took the challenge to eat the “big steak”. We didn’t stick around to find out if he could do it, though. We had “miles to go before we sleep”.

Another highlight for me was when I saw a sign that said, "the tallest cross in the western hemisphere). I jerked myself up and began to look. It didn't take long to see it. You can't tell exactly how big it is unless you look a the building close to it. It was amazing!

We finally arrived in Tulsa with Paul being the one to say, “Are we there, yet?” I hadn’t even used up one of my three “Are we there, yet?” questions! Paul only allows me three of those a day! When Charity was on the trip with us we had a total of 6 times a day we could ask that! (lol) That’s the only one Paul has used the whole trip, so I think he’s doing very well! And, of course, he’s doing all the driving! Whenever I ask him if he wants me to drive, he always says, “I’m fine.” No, my driving isn’t that bad, he just likes to drive.

Tomorrow we will tour Oral Roberts University and go to Wal-Mart! (How could I put both of those in the same sentence? They certainly don’t compare!) Then on to Branson!

Albuquerque, New Mexico

What supposed to have been about a 6 hour trip to Albuquerque took us 11 hours instead! This was the worst day of the whole trip as far as driving is concerned. We left Sedona early and drove to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. Both were absolutely beautiful. The old trees and blocks of wood were lying on the ground, some partially covered with rock or dirt. One of the pictures shows a petrified log sticking out of a rock. It was amazing! As we were driving out of the Painted Desert, we crossed a bridge over
I-40. We could see the traffic backed up on the east bound lane for miles. Up the road a ways we could see big, black smoke circling in the air. We knew something bad had happened, but we didn’t know what or how it would affect us. When we got through the Painted Desert we found out that there had indeed been a bad accident early that morning involving a Penske truck. No one knew the details, however. Traffic had been backed up for hours, at least 20 miles down the east bound lane. The report we got was that it might take as much as 4 more hours to let traffic through. We decided not to take a chance on how long it would take, so we went back west on I-40 and took another way around, a much longer route than I-40. Since we had dinner reservations at the High Finance Restaurant on the top of Sandia Peak, we needed to get to Albuquerque! But that wasn’t our only traffic problem! We hit at least 5 construction sections of the interstate where we were required to go 45 mph! THEN, on top of all that, we got into a TERRIBLE storm! The rain was coming down so fast we could hardly see, and the wind was blowing so hard that Paul was gripping the steering wheel with both hands trying to hold the van on the road. Needless to say, it was a long, stressful day of riding. Believe it or not, though, Paul and I still enjoyed each other and did not get upset with one another. (I even confirmed this with Paul to see if he was of the same opinion and he was.)

We finally arrived in Albuquerque in time to freshen up a bit, change our clothes, and head to the tram that would take us 2 ½ miles up on top of the mountain where we had our dinner reservations. We got there just in time to buy our tickets for the tram and board flight # 26 to the top! We arrived right on time for our dinner reservations! Isn’t God absolutely amazing! On top of that, it had been cloudy and rainy while we were in the tram, but as we sat and ordered our dinner and began to eat the sun began to come out. Little by little we could see streaks of sunlight filtering through the clouds. At that altitude, we were actually in the clouds! After we finished our dinner we went outside on the balcony overlooking the valley below and had someone take our picture up in the clouds. As we headed back down, the sun was beginning its descent over the valley below. The pictures I took of the sunset were beautiful, but not as much as the actual view we saw as we came down and headed back to our hotel for the night.
I was too exhausted when we got back to the hotel to blog. I got my bath and got right into bed. The next day would be another long day of riding!

A Hot Day in Arizona!

Well, we finally had a hot day in Arizona! 109 degrees! I’m glad we didn’t have a lot on our agenda today. We left early to go to Tuzigoot National Park to see the ruins of an ancient Indian tribe. I know it sounds uninteresting, but it really was very nice. Then we hit a couple of yard sales (found some great things) and stopped at a quilt store on our way to Montezuma’s Castle. This is also ancient ruins of an Indian tribe. These were really neat because they were hewn out of the rocks high up in the mountains. It isn’t really a castle, of course. It was named that because it was earlier believed that Montezuma stayed here, but he didn’t.

We spent a lot of time at the quilt store looking for just the right fabrics to make a southwestern themed quilt. Paul was so patient and helpful. He went to the van and dug out my pottery I had bought from a local Navajo girl so that I could match fabrics with the pottery. The pattern I (we) chose was called The Tree of Life. It will be a small wall-hanging quilt, but that’s what I wanted.

By the time we got back to the resort we were very hot and very tired. We both took a nap! Now we are trying to organize all our belongings and getting ready to hit the road once again early tomorrow morning for Albuquerque, New Mexico. We’re heading out in just a few minutes to get our final wash out of the dryer and to post this blog and pictures. Then we intend to take this one final road called Red Rock Loop Road. It is supposed to be very beautiful. Of course, we’ve seen much beauty here. I’m ready to head on out, though, for more adventures in New Mexico!

A Storm and Verde Valley Train Ride!

What a beautiful day and an awesome adventure! We slept in just a little this morning and then had a leisurely breakfast out on the patio. And then, wonder of wonders for Arizona, a storm came up! The sky turned dark, and it began to rain. Then we heard the thunder, not too close but not far away either. The rain cooled everything off. I actually had to come inside and put on long sweat pants and socks. We finished our breakfast about the same time the storm finished its work. The rain left everything sweet-smelling and fresh. The sun and the birds resumed their places. The birds’ songs seemed to be saying, “Thank you, thank you, for the rain.” They were especially happy! And so was I. I so love a storm!

We soon left for our excursion into the Arizona wilderness around Clarksdale, about 30 minutes from Sedona. We arrived early and had lunch at the train depot. We had a little bit of a wait because we were told to arrive early for the train. I think they did this so people would have to eat lunch there. A chicken sandwich or cheeseburger, a bag of chips, and a drink were $8.50. (rip-off!) The food was good, though. We also had refreshments on the train because we had a first class ticket. Because of our ticket, we also got to go out into the open-air car. People who had a coach ticket couldn’t. I was so glad I had a first class ticket. It was entirely different outside. I told Paul that inside we could “see” the mountains and wilderness, but in the open-air car we could experience it. (It actually rained on us twice, but we didn’t care.) It was almost like being on the river in the pontoon book except the train rocked back and forth more. I was glad I had taken two Dramamine this morning! Of course, we couldn’t get as close to the walls of the mountains as we could in the canyon either. For that reason, I liked the rafting trip better. I’m glad I got an opportunity to do both, though.

We met a sweet girl named Brandi who was our guide in the open-air car. She found out we were from North Carolina and that started our conversations. She wants to go back to NC and study with the pottery artists up in the mountains. She has also been to the Outer Banks and loves it there as well. We told her if she ever made it back to NC and needed a place to stay to look us up since we have plenty of room.

On the way back we rode up (and I do mean UP!) into a little town called Jerome that Brandi had told us about. The town looked a lot like Port Deposit, Maryland, where we used to live when Paul was in the Navy. There were lots of little artists’ shops up there. (Up there means an elevation of 6,000 feet.) She had wanted us to see this one artist’s quilts up there after she found out I was a quilter. Her quilts were pretty, but I’ve seen prettier. One of her wall hangings was about 25” by 30” and sold for $1200.00. (That is NOT a typo.) Twelve hundred dollars is right. I’m going to go home and start quilting again! (Ok, I was going to do that anyway.) I have some quilts in mind for Christmas presents, and I want to make a southwestern quilt made from fabrics I intend to buy tomorrow from a local quilt shop. I haven’t made up my mind yet what I want to buy, however. We stopped in there briefly on our way to the train, but I didn’t have time to do any serious shopping. That’s good, though, because I can think about it until tomorrow.

The pictures of the rainbows were taken on our drive back into Sedona. What a beautiful reminder that our days do indeed belong to God, and that He is the One responsible for all the wonder around us. His covenant with us is for here and now on Earth and will last into eternity. I’m so thankful I’m His child and He’s my daddy!

Slow Day--Thankfully!

Today was a laid-back, slow day, and we are thankful for it. We did some things here in Sedona, hit a few thrift stores and an outlet store, etc. Sedona is a very beautiful place. I saw a tree in the parking lot and had to take a second look. It was a Catawba tree, but this one already had its pods. Sedona is about an hour and a half south of the Grand Canyon, so this tree had already produced pods from its flowers. Later on these pods will dry out and turn brown. I thought you'd like to see the difference.

We are going on a four hour train ride tomorrow through the Senora wilderness. We are looking forward to it. Right now, though, I'm looking forward to getting to bed early.

Until tomorrow....

The Grand Canyon is indeed "grand"!--The Sequel

Our night spent at the El Tovar was very restful. It is the oldest lodge on the rim of the canyon. I’m not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but all the old logs are original to the building. The floors creaked as we climbed our way to the third floor. I was so glad we had compacted our luggage for this little mini trip. We slept in just a little because we were very tired from all the walking yesterday. We ate breakfast in the dining room of the El Tovar (very fancy), and we had a great view of the canyon from where we were sitting.

In the pictures you’ll also see a tree in bloom, then a closer shot of the bloom, and then an even closer shot of the bloom. The reason I had Paul take so many of this tree is because this is a Catawba tree. There were two of these trees at Mama and Daddy’s house when I was growing up. We called them cigar trees because long, skinny pods that looked like cigars would grow from those blossoms. I remember them so well because caterpillars LOVED these trees, and it was my job to mow the grass. Patsy always claimed she was allergic to grass cutting. Ummmm? Well, anyway, I refused to mow under those trees! I would cut a wide circle around them. Daddy would have to come out and finish the grass because of the WORMS! If you know me at all you know that I DETEST worms! But the trees are very pretty and these didn’t have worms, just lots of bees.

Some of you have asked about the squirrel in the pictures. This squirrel was so unafraid of people it would come right to you if it thought you had some food. I was sitting on the rock wall eating a bowl of ice cream and that squirrel wanted it! Well, he wasn’t getting any of MY ice cream! Besides, it was actually illegal to feed the “wild” animals. They let Paul and me have ice cream anyway, though! (lol) You also wanted to know what’s up with the “feet”. Paul says to keep you guessing, so I’ll not tell!

Our day today has not been as tiring. We continued our journey through the canyon to the southeast point, stopping at lookouts along the way. One stop we made was the Tusayan Pueblo Ruin. This is the ancient ruins of an Indian village. Every stop we made the view seemed to be more incredible than the one before. The last stop was at Desert View which had the Watchtower. The view from the top (yes, we climbed all the way to the top!) was breath-taking! Again I noticed the silence. Every stop we made was the same. People could not stand at the top of the lookouts and be loud and boisterous, not even the children. There was a sense of almost being in a church. It seemed to take your breath away! I could have stood there a long, long time and just “be”. By that, I mean just be with God. There is such a feeling of total surrender to the One who created this vast expanse of beauty.

We arrived back at Los Abrigados is time to do laundry. Yes, back from such lofty heights to the mundane things that must be done. But I don’t mind the mundane things. I’m thankful for these things because it means we are alive and together. I feel so blessed to be able to be on this trip with Paul. He is the love of my life no matter where we are!